Sociology - Journal Articleshttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/214
Sat, 12 Nov 2016 01:09:46 GMT2016-11-12T01:09:46ZProcesses of social flourishing and their liminal collapse: elements to a genealogy of globalizationhttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/3188
Processes of social flourishing and their liminal collapse: elements to a genealogy of globalization
Szakolczai, Árpád
This article aims at exploring a long-term historical perspective on which contemporary globalization can be more meaningfully situated. A central problem with established approaches to globalization is that they are even more presentist than the literature on modernization was. Presentism not only means the ignoring of history, but also the unreﬂective application to history of concepts taken from the study of the modern world. In contrast, it is argued that contemporary globalization is not a unique development, but rather is a concrete case of a historical type. Taking as its point of departure the spirit, rather than the word, of Max Weber, this article extends the scope of sociological investigation into archaeological evidence. Having a genealogical design and introducing the concept of ‘liminality’, the article approaches the modern process of globalization through reconstructing the internal dynamics of another type of historical change called ‘social ﬂourishing’. Taking up the Weberian approach continued by Eisenstadt in his writings on ‘axial age’, it moves away from situations of crisis as reference point, shifting attention to periods of revival by introducing the term ‘epiphany’. Through the case of early Mesopotamia, it shows how social ﬂourishing can be transmogriﬁed into globalizing growth, gaining a new perspective concerning the kind of ‘animating spirit’ that might have driven the shift from Renaissance to Reformation, the rise of modern colonialism, or contemporary globalization. More generally, it will retrieve the long-term historical background of the axial age and demonstrate the usefulness and importance of archaeological evidence for sociology.
Wed, 17 Aug 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/31882016-08-17T00:00:00ZThe legitimation of development and GM crops: The case of Bt Cotton and Indebtedness in Telangana, Indiahttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/3250
The legitimation of development and GM crops: The case of Bt Cotton and Indebtedness in Telangana, India
Desmond, Elaine
This study explores the relation between Bt cotton adoption and farmer suicides in India. This is undertaken through comparing the debt levels of Bt cotton cultivators with those adopting alternative organic and Non-Pesticide Management (NPM) methods. The study involves a total of 26 participants in three villages in Telangana, India. It argues that measures of indebtedness need to be adopted as part of assessments of both Bt cotton and development policy.
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/32502016-06-05T00:00:00ZReconfiguring the contours of statehood and the rights of the peoples of disappearing stateshttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/3089
Reconfiguring the contours of statehood and the rights of the peoples of disappearing states
Skillington, Tracey
Many of the elements that have traditionally supported state level normative self-organization, most notably territory, are being actively undermined by rising sea levels, flooding, desertification, amongst other climate change effects. As more and more states come to be redefined as â disappearingâ , that is, states losing their territories to the natural environment through no specific fault of their own, a question arises as to how displaced communities will be assisted in their desire (and right) to continue to practice principles of self-determination and self-government? What is clear is that the international community can no longer continue with the fiction of a unified or unchanging model of the liberal democratic state. Instead, alternative ontological models of sovereign community are required, as is a re-imagining of how statehood might be re-constituted in the future in response to deepening ecological problems. The international community must now begin to address the immanent nature of threats posed to disappearing states and consider how a model of statehood that does not privilege territory as a fixed component of state identity could be operationalized. This paper considers how a democratic reform of statehood might proceed and resettlement agreements for displaced communities determined. The transition to an era of peaceful sovereign relations under deteriorating global climate conditions and growing natural resource scarcity, it argues, will require a significant extension of established traditions of democratic compromise, human rights solidarity and cosmopolitan justice.
Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/30892016-01-01T00:00:00ZRisk definition and the struggle for legitimation: a case study of Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh, Indiahttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/3252
Risk definition and the struggle for legitimation: a case study of Bt cotton in Andhra Pradesh, India
Desmond, Elaine
This article explores the struggle for legitimation associated with the attempt to define the risk of Bt cotton, a genetically modified crop, in Andhra Pradesh, India. Beck asserts that, given the uncertainty associated with risk society, efforts to define risk are creating the need for a new political culture. This article argues that this political culture emerges from attempts to legitimate power within risk definition. This is examined using critical discourse analysis on interview excerpts with key figures in the Bt cotton debate. Legitimation is explored using the categories of legitimation developed by Van Leeuwen. These are (a) authorisation; (b) moral evaluation; (c) rationalisation; and (d) mythopoesis. The analysis highlights that the political culture which emerges in response to risk society is in a state of constant flux and contingent upon the ongoing struggle for legitimation with regard to the definition of risk.
Wed, 20 May 2015 00:00:00 GMThttp://hdl.handle.net/10468/32522015-05-20T00:00:00Z